A capital 4th, Impactful results and All-Star selection rage

The first story of the day comes from my hometown of Broken Arrow. It seems as though the city is either strapped for cash or just looking for publicity. The city decided to officially permit the use of fireworks; however, the city has required that the citizens purchase a permit for $20 to do so. Admittedly until this year it was illegal to shoot of fireworks in the city limits, but that was the least enforced law in city history. This law change strikes me more as a money grab than an legitimate policy change. We'll have to see whether it works but without any program to justify the increased funding.

Congratulations to NASA for the successful completion of the Deep Impact mission.

So Morgan Ensberg and Roy Oswalt are not as yet All-Stars. At least Roy has a shot with the 'Final Vote' promotion but Ensberg has to be the biggest snub of the All-Star proceedings. A .287 average with the 22 homers and 59 RBI, but no I guess he doesn't deserve it right Mr. LaRussa?

And finally the awarding of the pewter gas can:
Today's 'winner': Tommy Phelps of the Brewers 1/3 of an inning 1 hit, a walk and 2 earned runs to give the Pirates a 9-8 lead which they never relinquished.

'Paranoid' counter 57 days
'Race to Mediocrity' counter 4 games

No song lyric today as I am far too scattered.